Daily Dothttp://www.dailydot.com/Daily Dot Articleen-usTue, 22 May 2012 14:28:49 +0000Supreme Court denies file-sharing casehttp://www.dailydot.com/news/supreme-court-file-sharing-tenebaum/<p><img src='//cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/99/fd/99fd7a5c87c22aa4781e1c2863f835e8.jpg'></p><p>
Lawsuits that deal with illegal downloading have gone to the highest courts in <a href="http://beijingcream.com/2012/05/ultimate-frisbee-as-reported-on-china-central-television/">some countries</a>.</p>
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But the Supreme Court of the United States isn&rsquo;t yet ready to hear them.</p>
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Instead, Joel Tenenbaum, who was <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/supreme-court-passes-on-file-sharing-case-but-still-no-end-is-in-sight/?nl=todaysheadlines&amp;emc=edit_th_20120522">charged</a> in 2007 for illegally&nbsp;downloading 30 songs on the peer-to-peer file-sharing software program Kazaa, was denied his appeal to plead his case before the Supreme Court on Monday.</p>
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&ldquo;Tenenbaum is a fine and courageous young man who has just received his doctorate in statistical physics,&rdquo; read Tenenbaum&rsquo;s request for a writ of certiorari, or to be heard by the SCOTUS. It quoted the judge when he first went to trial, Nancy Gertner, who has since retired:</p>
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&ldquo;Counsel representing the record companies have an ethical obligation to fully understand that they are fighting people without lawyers, to understand that the formalities of this are basically bankrupting people.&rdquo;</p>
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The request also noted that the plaintiff, the Recording Industry Association of America, had stated in a press release that their main goal in suing Tenenbaum wasn&rsquo;t actually meant to reflect damages, but instead to make an example to other would-be pirates.</p>
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Nevertheless, the SCOTUS&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/052112zor.pdf">denial</a> was swift, devoting only two sentences to dismiss Tenenbaum&rsquo;s request.</p>
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&ldquo;The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. The Chief Justice and Justice Breyer took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.&rdquo;</p>
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Instead, Tenenbaum will be forced to pay up.</p>
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How much, exactly, is up to yet another court. The case is now set for a district court in Boston, which will decide damages. At different points in his case, Tenenbaum has been sentenced to fines of between $67,500 and $675,000 for the 30 songs.</p>
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<em>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjetilhr/">kjetil_r</a></em></p>
kcollier@dailydot.com (Kevin Collier)Tue, 22 May 2012 14:28:49 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/news/supreme-court-file-sharing-tenebaum/News